It’s been a yogurt summer in Northwest DC. Two ‘real fro-yo’ joints opened in Dupont, and Sweetgreen is still serving their Sweetflow. The overpriced fro-yo caught wallets in a cunning pincer formation, meeting both sweaty-DC-summer and cutesy-trend-related needs.

•Tangysweet, on 21st and P near Dupont Circle, looks like a Euro dance club, with big color-changing neon tube lights that curve into tables. It can feel like a club, too, because the place is frequently packed, especially late at night (TS stays open ’till 2 AM on the weekends). The ‘Original’ yogurt is slightly citrusy and the toppings are fresh, but the other flavors (green tea and pomegranate) are pretty bland.

•Mr Yogato, on the other hand, seems more like a kid’s playroom, with cute drawings and tiny chairs. If the Mr. Robato comes on the loudspeaker and you sing along, you get a 10% discount. They also lower the price for answering trivia questions, wearing a Mr. Yogato stamp on your head, or coming in with a kickball uniform on (how, exactly, they determine what a kickball uniform looks like is unclear).

Like Tangysweet, Mr. Yogato is usually very busy, and the games and discounts tend to dwindle off when this happens. The yogurt is good, but Mr. Yogato’s decision to offer some free toppings is even better.

•Sweetgreen has the same quality fro-yo as everyone else, but its hours make it irrelevant. Closing at 8 p.m. on a Saturday means turning away great money, considering its location and the midnight fro-yo crowd.

Photo from Flickr user Alicia Griffin used under a Creative Commons license

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 10:48 am and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.